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INq
TE

M2M NOW INSIGHT REPORT
In the first of our new series of specially
commissioned Insight Reports, Matt Hatton of
Machina Research gauges business prospects in
five industry sectors: Automotive M2M; Fleet,
Manufacturing & Remote Asset Management;
Smart Utilities; mHealth; and Smart Cities.

C1

SUPPLEMENT: CEO GUIDE TO MWC 2014
See our 12-page Supplement previewing the
M2M and IoT product launches, debates, and
networking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

Cover Sponsor: Wyless is the leading global M2M managed services
provider. Its platform, delivered in partnership with the world’s largest
network operators, provides secure, reliable communications with
wireless devices in over 120 countries. Powerful management tools offer real-time reporting and
control over all devices connected to our network. Wyless delivers a comprehensive suite of
managed services with unrivalled expertise, professional support and competitive pricing. Wyless
enables its customers and partners to deploy M2M applications and services faster, cheaper and
more effectively. www.wyless.com

M2M Now

3

COMMENT

Time to
break
the rules
Don’t fix what ain’t broke, that’s the rule. But sometimes
there are better motivations than repair. We have been
overwhelmed by the support you have shown for
M2M Now magazine, in print and online at m2mnow.biz.
You have catapulted us from zero to more than 25,000
readers worldwide in months, and we want to say thank you.
So why, I hear you ask, are we radically overhauling the title’s contents
barely three years after we launched? Simple; because we are bringing
you more and better coverage of the market than we (or anyone else,
come to that) have offered before. We work hard to bring you the latest
news, views and interviews in machine-to-machine communications (M2M)
and the Internet of Things (IoT). And rest assured, that won’t change.

Jeremy Cowan,
Editor & Publisher,
M2M Now

Now, however, you will find a new backbone running through the
magazine as we’ve commissioned a leading analyst firm – this month it’s
Machina Research – to write an Insight Report for M2M Now analysing
the market as a whole. At our invitation, they have prepared a special
report covering 5 growth sectors; automotive M2M, fleet management
& asset tracking, smart utilities, mobile health, and smart cities. Our
experience has shown these to be among the areas of greatest reader
interest. They also present some of the biggest business opportunities.
The report in the first of these new-look issues covers all five sectors,
giving you a taste of the detailed Insight Reports to come. In future, M2M
Now will focus on one sector in each issue, bringing you analysis of
business opportunities, challenges and key vendors, that will complement
our unrivalled news coverage and exclusive access to C-Level executives.
For now though, just sit back and see for yourself if the best M2M
coverage in the world just got even better (and bigger too).

M2M Now is distributed free to selected named individuals worldwide who meet the Publisher's terms
of Circulation Control. If you would like to apply for a regular free copy supplied at the Publisher's
discretion visit www.m2mnow.biz If you do not qualify for a free subscription, paid subscriptions can
be obtained. Subscriptions for 5 issues per year cost £125.00 worldwide (or US$210 / €160) including
post and packing.

Analysis: Investors see value in IoT
Companies expanding their IoT
horizons are attracting support from
venture capitalist firms. In
September 2013, Neul Ltd, secured
an initial US$5 million of equity
funding from its existing investor
base: DFJ Esprit, IQ Capital, and a
group of Angel investors. Neul is
expected to use the financial
injection to develop its Network-asa-Service offering to assist
operators deliver IoT in 2014.
In October, eConais Inc received a
boost from Odyssey Venture
Partners. While the actual amount
remains undisclosed, eConais is one
of three companies benefiting from
a total of €2.7 million (US$3.7
million) invested by the venture firm.
The financing will help the company
to grow global sales and distribution
networks, and release Wi2Smart™ which it claims is the world’s
smallest device with fully embedded
WiFi, TCP/IP network protocol stack,
and software functionality for a
number of IoT applications.
In the same month, Arrayent, raised
US$11.9 million from DCM Ventures,
Opus Capital and Intel Capital,

bringing the total investment to
date to US$13.4 million. The
company provides a cloud for
connected sensors with clients
including Whirlpool, LiftMaster, and
Mattel. The funding will help expand
the company’s presence as platform
providers race to offer IoT
connectivity. Another platform
provider, Fidesmo - a start up from
Sweden - has secured seed
financing from Jan Bosch and Niclas
Lilja. The capital will accelerate its
development for the remote
management of secure applications in
smart phones and connected devices
(regardless of operator, handset
manufacturer or operating system).
SmartThings, also an IoT startup,
received US$12.5 million (£7.8
million) in November 2013 thanks to
funding from venture capitalists
Greylock Partners and Highland Capital
Partners. The company will use the
investment to open up its SmartThings
platform and technology stack to
the developer communities, device
manufacturers, and service providers.
It will also expand product retail
distribution channels for its
consumer IoT starter kit, Smart Hub.

Cellular M2M device installed base to
approach 500m as focus shifts to IoT
Analysis from Juniper Research
entitled, M2M & Embedded
Strategies: Telematics, POS, mHealth,
Metering & Buildings 2013-2018, found
that the M2M space is increasingly
focused on the development of
open platforms, which simplify
connectivity to a wide range of
isolated devices, through the cloud.
It states that Big Data, emerging
from M2M service provision, will pave
the way for improved interrogation
of M2M data and open doors to new
revenue streams for companies and
operators. Its prediction, for cellular
M2M device installed base units, is
that we’ll reach 500 million units by
2018. According to the report this
will largely be driven by more open
M2M ecosystems and improved
cloud-based APIs.
The report also found that M2M rollouts are becoming increasingly
global as Mobile Network Operators
(MNOs) facilitate M2M roaming and
tailored service approaches to
industry verticals. “Mobile
technologies will play an important
M2M Now

role in the creation of the Internet of
Things, particularly as mobile
chipsets and modules continue to
reduce in price,” said Anthony Cox,
the report’s author.
New initiatives, including the use of
the ‘white space’ spectrum released
from the digitisation of TV, will
eventually create new platforms for
widespread roll out, particularly in
the US and the UK. The report
cautioned, however, that the
prospects of M2M services in certain
sectors, such as mHealth and
consumer electronics, have been
adversely affected by improvements
in the smartphone/app ecosystem
and the increased ubiquity of the
tablet. This is allowing hub-based
models to replace services that may
have previously been offered by
bespoke M2M devices.
Telematics remains the anchor M2M
industry sector with virtually all the
major vehicle manufacturers now
deploying, or planning to deploy,
M2M modules in new vehicles.

NEWS IN BRIEF
Ovum says M2M
revenues will more
than treble by 2018
Forecasts from the global
analysts Ovum show that
over the next five years, M2M
revenues will grow to reach
US$44.8bn, with more than a
third coming from the AsiaPacific region. Ovum's new
forecasts reveal that revenues
will grow slightly more slowly
than connections, reflecting
the increasing
competitiveness of the
market and the extension of
M2M into lower-value
applications.
Total global M2M connections
will more than treble from
106.4 million in 2012 to 360.9
million in 2018, at a CAGR of
22.6%. There will be growth
across all regions, but it will
be fastest in the Asia-Pacific
region, the Middle East and
Africa. The key industry
verticals in 2018 will be
healthcare, manufacturing,
and energy & utilities.

World’s largest M2M
association Eclipsed
The M2M Alliance has joined
the Eclipse Foundation, a
not-for-profit, membersupported corporation that
helps cultivate both an open
source community and an
ecosystem of complementary
products and services.
The Eclipse M2M Working
Group is a collaboration of
individuals and organisations
whose community goal is to
provide M2M frameworks,
protocols and tools that can
be used in commercial
products and applications.
As a full member the M2M
Alliance will support the
globally operating open
source community and
contribute to the
development of new
technologies, solutions and
standards. Eric Schneider,
chairman of the M2M Alliance,
said: “By joining the Eclipse
Foundation, we enable our
members to find the right
platforms, solutions and
partners for their projects.”

5

COMPANY NEWS

Sierra Wireless to buy In Motion
for US$21m as it aims to lead in
public safety and fleet markets

NEWS IN BRIEF
PTC spends US$112m
on IoT platform
provider ThingWorx
PTC has acquired ThingWorx,
creators of an award-winning
platform for building and
running applications for the
Internet of Things (IoT). The
deal is worth approximately
US$112 million, plus a possible
earn-out of up to $18 million.
The ThingWorx acquisition
extends PTC's ability to support
manufacturers seeking
competitive advantage as they
create and service smart,
connected products. As part of
PTC (Nasdaq: PTC), ThingWorx
will continue to help customers
in a wide range of industries,
including telecommunications,
utilities, medical devices,
agriculture, and transportation, as
well as an emerging partner
network of IoT-enabled service
providers.

Wasserstein buys
Globecomm for $340m
An investor group, led by
Wasserstein & Co, an independent
private equity and investment
firm, has completed the
acquisition of Globecomm, a
global provider of managed
network communication solutions
for media, wireless, government,
maritime and enterprise
customers. The merger, worth
US$340million, was approved by
stockholders at a special meeting
in November.
"Globecomm is a leader in
developing and managing
complex communications
solutions with a strong track
record of growth and innovative
engineering that leverages its
global communications network,"
commented Anup Bagaria, comanaging partner of Wasserstein
& Co. "Globecomm has also made
successful investments in new
product development that we
believe will drive future growth in
both the company's existing and
new markets."
Around the same time the nonprofit World Teleport Association
named Globecomm as one of its
Independent Top 20 Operators in
its annual ranking of teleport
operators. The company scored
seventh among the independents
(companies that operate satellite
communications facilities on the
ground but do not own satellites
in space).

In Motion is a provider of mobile
enterprise solutions, supplying
rugged in-vehicle mobile routers
tightly integrated with an advanced
mobile-optimised security system
and a powerful management and
application platform. The complete
solution enables organisations to
connect and manage mobile
operations, vehicles, and workforces

more efficiently, reliably and securely.
“In Motion will strengthen our
leadership position in M2M and
broaden our Enterprise Solutions
portfolio,” said Jason Cohenour
president and CEO of Sierra
Wireless. “The Sierra Wireless and In
Motion businesses are highly
complementary, and together will
hold a unique competitive position.
We will have the products, channels,
and technology needed to offer the
most comprehensive suite of
solutions to our customers and
expand our market share in high
growth, high value markets such as
public safety and commercial fleets.”

Dutch firm ASPIDER bought by Wyless
Wyless has acquired 100% of the
stock of Netherlands-based M2M
company, ASPIDER. ASPIDER is not
only active in Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg, but
also has offices in Germany. Terms
of the deal have not been disclosed.

grown rapidly in North America
lately.

The deal is intended to provide greater
balance between Wyless's activities
in Europe and the US. Although the
company began life in the UK it has

Sprint Velocity Connect accelerates
development for auto manufacturers
Sprint’s business unit, Sprint
VelocitySM, has expanded capabilities
for automotive manufacturers with
the debut of Sprint Velocity
Connect. The enhancements will
support additional hardware on
Sprint Velocity’s cloud-based
platform, such as TCUs (Telematics
Control Units), OBD-II (On-Board
Diagnostic) devices, and embedded
in-dash head units.
Vehicle manufacturers with access to
the platform will be able to streamline
their design and development
processes, simplify the integration
of complex components, and better
manage ecosystem partners.
“With more than 14 million vehicles
sold in the United States yearly, auto

manufacturers are in a constant race
to bring the newest, most versatile
and technology-packed products to
market,” said Ben Vos, vice
president and general manager,
Sprint Emerging Solutions. “Sprint
Velocity makes it easier for
automakers to win that race by
offering the most advanced
connected services available today,
supported by unsurpassed
telematics integration and
consumer-focused resources that can
translate into increased revenues
and stronger customer loyalty.”
Sprint Velocity offers data analysis
to help automakers identify product
improvements, reduce operational
costs, and potentially increase
revenue opportunities.

M2M Now

CONTRACT NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF

TeliaSonera
connects Tesla
electric vehicles
TeliaSonera Global M2M
Services is to provide the
connectivity in Tesla
Motors’ Model S to
customers in Sweden,
Denmark, Finland, Estonia
and Latvia.
For example, the digital
instrument cluster,
steering wheel controls,
media, communications,
cabin controls and vehicle
data are all available
through a 17” touch
screen. Superior mobile
connectivity also enables
remote vehicle
diagnostics to relay
information about the
car’s safety, security and
performance to the driver
and Tesla service staff in
real time.

Cityzenith launches smart city dashboard
Agreements are in progress with
Amsterdam's Economic Board, the
Barcelona City Council, and San
Francisco's Department of the
Environment, to launch a software
platform to transform the collection,
visualisation, analysis, and
management of municipal data
around the globe. This is the first
time cities have joined forces to
establish a common platform for
using and sharing their data within,
as well as between, capitals and

citizens via simple mobile applications.
Due to the limitations of existing
systems, most city data generated
currently goes uncollected, unused,
or is potentially misunderstood.
Cityzenith’s 5D SMART CityTM –
developed by one of the principal
creators of Google EarthTM –
provides a platform to connect,
collect, and access a diverse crosssection of city data sources through
a dashboard.

Cellular technology embedded for
rugged, solar-powered monitoring
Telit Wireless Solutions, along with
Digital Matter Telematics, a provider
of technology for embedded
electronic devices and software,
have unveiled a solution for remote
mobile asset monitoring, tracking and
management from a broad range of
environmental conditions–with no
need for external power supply.
Digital Matter Telematics' selfpowered G52 Solar, and its OEM

server platform, uses Telit's HE910
Series for 3G and the GE910-QUAD
V3 for 2G mobile data connectivity.
The G52S' solar panel keeps the
internal battery charged to enable
regular updates from the unit even
when the asset (such a trailer) is
disconnected from a vehicle. A
multi-axis accelerometer monitors
movement and status to generate
alerts and live tracking.

THE CONTRACT HOT LIST
M2M Now March 2014
It's free to be included in The Contract Hot List, which shows the companies announcing recent contract wins
or product deployments. Email your contract details to us now, marked "Hot List" at <jc@m2mnow.biz>
Vendor/Partners

Client, Country

Product / Service (Duration & Value)

Awarded

ClearConnex

GeoTelematic™
Solutions, Inc, USA

Partners to combine platform for GPS tracking and telematics with
agnostic wireless devices

10.2013

Cityzenith

Amsterdam Economic
Board, Holland

Multi-city collaboration to transform collection and management of
municipal data

11.2013

Cityzenith

Barcelona City
Council, Spain

Multi-city collaboration to transform collection and management of
municipal data

11.2013

Cityzenith

San Francisco Dept
of Environment, USA

Multi-city collaboration to transform collection and management of
municipal data

More information on all these and other News stories can be found at www.m2mnow.biz

8

M2M Now

PEOPLE NEWS

locate, communicate, accelerate

Wireless industry veteran
joins Device Cloud Networks

David Williams,
CEO, Device
Cloud Networks

Dave Williams has joined
Device Cloud Networks as
chief executive officer. He
will work to expand DCN’s
global connectivity and
device management
solutions in the M2M
ecosystem of OEMs,

carriers and enterprises.
Previously CTO for
Telefónica Europe, Williams
worked at uniting the
company in developing one
of the most profitable
wireless networks in the
world, the AT&T network.

NY State Smart Grid Consortium adds
to Advisory Board of GRID4EU
The New York State Smart Grid
Consortium (NYSSGC), a publicprivate partnership devoted to
state-wide implementation of the
smart grid, has welcomed James T.
Gallagher to the Advisory Board of
GRID4EU. The largest smart grid

project, funded by the European
Commission, GRID4EU is
comprised of six European energy
distributors with the goal of
implementing large-scale
demonstration projects for
advanced smart grid solutions.

Stream appoints new director
of global satellite for M2M

Martin Wiesner,
Stream
Communications

M2M specialist, Stream
Communications, has
appointed Martin Wiesner as
director of global satellite for
machine-to-machine. Wiesner
takes on a pivotal role in
support of the company’s
strategic, international
expansion of satellite-based

services for M2M, which
extends the company’s
current GPRS, 3G & 4G GSM
based services. Previously he
was responsible for business
development at Honeywell
Global Tracking where he
was regional manager for
Africa, Europe & Australasia.

DataSift expands executive team
Tasked with driving DataSift’s next
growth phase, Beth Beld has joined
DataSift, the platform that powers
the social economy, as chief
marketing officer. With more than
20 years of experience leading

Mobile payment specialist Seamless gains new EVP
As part of a rapid expansion in
SEQR mobile payment solutions,
Seamless has successfully recruited
Ingrid Lindström as executive vice
president. Most recently Lindström
was the chief executive officer for

mobile payment company,
WyWallet. Prior to that she held
management positions at Digital
River World Payments, Netgiro and
Payzone Nordic (previously Alphyra
Nordic AB).

Director of business appointed at Quortus
Quortus has announced the
appointment of Gabriel Hincapie
Yepes as its new director of
business development. Yepes joins
the company’s senior management
team following a career including

terms with both Ericsson and O2
UK. In his new role, Yepes will help
to develop Quortus’ business
portfolio, with particular interest in
delivering intelligent small cell
networks to enterprises.

u-blox and ARM help developer prototypes
with IoT cellular development kit
Google Glass is rumoured to
be launching sometime
around April 2014, but is this
much talked about product
set for failure before it even
hits the shelf?
LoveMyVouchers.co.uk, a UK
discount code site, recently
surveyed 1,132 people to find
out whether or not they plan
to embrace this new
wearable technology.
In all, 68% of those asked
said that they were unlikely
to invest in Google’s latest
invention because they
would feel too embarrassed
to wear it in public. A similar
number also said that they
would not feel comfortable
talking to somebody else
who is wearing the device.
With safety and privacy
issues being hot topics of
discussion on the web,
perhaps it is not difficult to
see why.
It is thought that the stateof-the-art glasses, which
enable users to experience
augmented reality, will start
at around US$600 when
they eventually hit the shops,
and according to the results
of the survey, this will also
put a lot of people off. A
total of 53% of the people
who participated in the
survey said that the price
was too high, while 61%
stated that they had no
need for another gadget
of this kind.

10

Swiss-based u blox, a provider of
cellular and positioning modules and
integrated circuits, has joined forces
with ARM, a semiconductor IP
company, to create a prototyping kit
for designing wirelessly connected,
location-aware internet devices. The
‘Internet of Things (IoT) Starter Kit’
makes design processes easier with
support from the open-source ARM
mbed development platform, which
offers free software libraries,
hardware designs and online tools.

at u-blox. “To help engineers jump
start their design of these types of
internet-connected devices, the
C027 delivers out-of-the-box
wireless internet connectivity based
on a compact u-blox 2G, 3G or
CDMA cellular modem plus a global
positioning module. Together with
the ARM Cortex-M3 32-bit
processor and access to all the
resources of the ARM mbed project,
this is an extremely powerful and
flexible prototyping tool.”

“The internet is reaching into every
aspect of our lives, connecting
everything from smartphones and
tablets to devices for security,
safety, surveillance, navigation,
healthcare, convenience, and fun.”
said Michael Ammann, vice
president of platform partnerships

Enabling straightforward development
of location-aware, global communicating
applications, an application board
provides access to Ethernet and
CAN interfaces as well as a variety
of HW interfaces (22 GPIOs with
SPI, I2C, UART, I2S) through a
standard-based header connector.

Digi Connect Tank offers cost-effective,
wireless monitoring and control of single
remote tanks
The latest addition to Digi
International’s family of tank-level
monitoring offerings is the Digi
Connect® Tank. This is a fully
integrated, cellular-enabled, level
monitoring solution for single tanks,
totes and containers that will help
companies to better manage their
remote asset levels and location
data.

The system integrates data into
Device Cloud by Etherios™ which
enables companies to connect and
manage their remote assets using
any application. Leveraging APIs,
Digi Connect Tank can be enabled
to report data only as needed (such
as low-level alarms), therefore
minimising costly and perhaps
unnecessary cellular data charges.

Reported to be ideal for oil, waste
oil, chemical, water, wastewater,
agriculture and other inventory level
monitoring applications, Digi
Connect Tank features both CDMA
and 3G GSM cellular technologies,
an integrated ultrasonic sensor with
non-contact liquid levels, integrated
GPS, a durable enclosure, and a two
to three year battery life.

Benefits from automated tank data
and real-time analytics decrease the
need for manual inspections at
remote sites, resulting in a more
predicable supply chain. Inventory
levels can also be more tightly
monitored and managed, helping to
ensure that tanks do not run out or
overflow. In turn, customers are
provided with exactly what they
need when they need it.

M2M Now

VIEW FROM THE TOP

Big data challenges and
crisp replies as Oracle and
partners leverage its
platforms for IoT devices

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every sector has
specific challenges,
but there are
common ways to
address them.â&#x20AC;?

M2M Now

11

VIEW FROM THE TOP

Dave Hofert (right). His team is
developing new ecosystem partners and
business opportunities that leverage
Oracle’s platforms with a focus on devices
running Java. His experience spans nearly
two decades in the high-tech industry,
leading teams in engineering, marketing,
sales, and business development covering
Java, Solaris, and various internet,
embedded, and industrial technologies.
Dave holds a patent for cross-language
search and retrieval techniques. He has a
degree from the University of Rochester
and an Executive MBA from Boston
University. He lives in Boston, MA.

As we enter the age of the Internet of Things (IoT)
Jeremy Cowan asks Oracle’s Dave Hofert how we can
benefit from the burgeoning data streams now available
to service providers. What lessons in device and data
management have been learned in machine-to-machine
(M2M) communications?

Dave Hofert, Oracle: IoT and M2M solutions are
in many ways all the same, but they are also
unique. Every problem, or every solution is very
specific. “How can I operate this machine more
efficiently? How many lights are needed on in
this particular building? Where is the patient?”
Those questions are extremely specific and so
are the rules around collecting and handling the
data needed to answer them.
That said, the solutions follow something similar
to an 80/20 rule. Every M2M or IoT solution
collects some kind of sensory data appropriate
to the problem, communicates it back to a data
centre, performs some kind of an analysis, and
compares that analysis against predicted or past
performance.
While everything has a specific objective they
also have a common set up, a common design
that they can share. You can have specific
solutions or techniques across all of these
industries that can be leveraged, reused,
designed or improved to take advantage of
deploying solutions more quickly and easily.
M2M Now: Clearly the industry has moved
beyond rebuilding and reinventing the wheel
almost every time.
DH: I believe that this is the year IoT will blossom.
You are right, M2M has been around for well over
a decade. Just as in the embedded market,
solutions were designed to solve a specific

12

problem, create a one-off solution, and then let’s
just go do the next one, we will just start over
and solve those problems.
But with the combination of cheaper processors,
better connectivity, more advanced processing
capabilities and data transmission and sharing
standards, developers can now take advantage
of more consistent platforms.
At Oracle we view this as three steps. Number
one; acquire and manage. Get your data in a
standardised, scalable, secure device platform.
Then integrate and secure that data into your
business systems in a cost-effective and leveraged
manner. Then analyse and act; extract the business
value from that data and take some action.
If you can make these individual steps more of a
common platform, then you can apply this many
places across your organisation.
M2M Now: Among the most commonly
reported problems for M2M and IoT service
providers are making services scalable and
simple to deploy. How does Oracle address
these issues?
DH: We believe in a platform architecture and
model that address the issues of scalability and
deployment. Oracle’s model allows customers to
deploy and create solutions, but also to take
advantage of improvements ‘under the hood’. On
devices, Oracle believes the Java platform is the
key for acquiring and managing data. Java is
both a language and a run-time. The language is
widely known and something of a standard in IT
for developers. Then Oracle and partners create
the run times across a wide range of hardware.

▼

M2M Now: Are there many common problems
and solutions when extracting data from devices
in industries within M2M that differ as widely as
automotive, healthcare and utility services?

M2M Now

Now you have this platform that allows you to share business
logic, and algorithms up and down the solution stack which
gives you tremendous flexibility. As Oracle improves the
platforms, you automatically see the benefits. This allows you
to focus on your logic while Oracle focuses on better
performance, functionality, and scalability.
M2M Now: Even when those twin barriers have been
overcome, some IoT enabled services that seem wonderful
in the pipeline can still fail to be cost-effective. This seems
to be a constant challenge.
DH: For early IoT services or solutions, cost-effectiveness was
somewhat subjective. Obtaining information that wasn’t
readily available; such as the temperature or the location of
something,and you were able to realise direct business benefit
–then you had a win. The cost of this solution would be
weighed against not having the data at all and the benefit
seemed obvious.
However, the question is what happens over time? How much
does it cost to maintain that solution? More importantly, how
much does it cost to evolve that solution? I think IoT solutions
are a bit like eating a packet of crisps; you have one, you get
one piece of data, and then you just simply want another
piece of data. And modifying that solution in place becomes
really expensive when it is hand crafted.
For example, we talked with a partner that was working on an
automated parking solution. The goal was to look at a parking
space, is it available? Can I transfer the data to some central
server so that people who are looking can buy a parking
spot? That is a great solution on its own merit.
Then the city says, “Well, I have all these sensors at work, can
you tell me the temperature or measure the rainfall at this
spot?” That is a good idea, there is infrastructure in place,
there is a device there. The question is, how hard will it be to
modify? That is really the issue for long term cost-efficiency. A
point solution may be fine, but they won’t be a point
solution for long. Everyone is going to want to know more.
M2M Now: Are the cost pressures that can hamper
profitable service delivery in modification?

M2M Now

DH: Yes, again going back to the platform discussion, let’s use
some examples. We have set up this IoT solution; “Where are
my trucks? I am a crisp delivery business, and I need to know
where my trucks are, because if I need to divert one, I want to
pick the one that is closest.” So, you have collected data from
a GPS module, you’ve sent that location to a server, which
connects it to a map and gives you a picture on the screen
showing you where all the trucks are.
Now the mechanic says, “Can I also know how fast it is going
on average? Can you look at the tyre pressures?” To do this
you have to modify that device, or add another inside the
truck. If you have got a device that has a particular OS or
development environment, you probably have a software
team that handles it; they are going to have to do some work
to make changes and collect more of this data.
This is not particularly hard, but now you need to look at the
gateway. It is a different operating system, tool chain, and
device. You are going to send the data to the back end which,
of course, has the IoT development team.
You put the first solution in place and everything is great, but
now we want to modify it. Now there are three different teams
to coordinate, collaborate, and share information back and
forth.
The testing is really the killer. Testing and maintenance costs
escalate tremendously, because you may have individual
environments, you might have an integrated environment. If
something goes wrong, who figures out who is at fault? Then
you have to fix it and then you have to deploy it.
So it quickly spirals out of control, and what happens is the
answer comes back, “Sorry no, we can’t deal with the tyre
pressures, it is too hard.”
If you are using a platform-based solution such as we propose
with Java, you can have Java running on all of those devices.
You can have one team working on the full solution. If you
want to collect more data it is much more manageable, much
easier to maintain and to test.
M2M Now: Dave, are better organisational processes as
important as better platforms?
DH: Yes, I think you have got it right. Of course we support
and develop a wide range of standards, not only for the back
end business integration side of the world, but for the device
side in terms of communication and data format.
▼

When you create a Java application, you can run it without
change across multiple different devices. So you can leverage
business logic or algorithms, or just interface code across a
wide range of devices, from the device side through the
gateway, to the server side.

13

VIEW FROM THE TOP

Fundamentally, the platforms plus the standards help keep
the costs lower, but the point about organisation is important.
Keeping with our example with the delivery truck, let’s assume
we are able to collect all of the data. Now we are saving a ton
of money, operating this crisp delivery service much more
efficiently. All of this data, and the devices, have become
critical parts of an organisation’s infrastructure.
Many, if not all of these M2M devices need to become first
class citizens in an organisation’s IT infrastructure – this is a bit
of an eye opener for the IT department, and probably for the
product guys who are instrumenting the trucks. The IT
department is saying, “Okay, you want me to control and
manage what? It’s not in my IT server room. How am I
supposed to control access to that?” The product guys are
saying, “You’ve now got to follow IT rules for how I make
changes, this is now really hard to do.”
There is no question it is a challenge, but I think it is a big
opportunity, because IT in general has been working for
decades on problems like provisioning systems, creating
unified profiles for systems, security, distributed computing,
and even data lifecycles. These are precisely the problems
that IoT devices have when they move out of the one device,
one solution silo. They need to be remotely provisioned,
updatable, secure, controlled and uniquely addressable. These
are all attributes of a typical IT system. The good news is,
while it can be a challenge, Oracle and other companies have
been working for a long time on how to solve these problems.
But the process challenge is even more interesting when you
engage in an IoT solution that works with the environment.
For example, your infrastructure on your trucks might also
share data with the city, because they are looking at traffic. Or
the city might have sensors out there that the trucks utilize to
anticipate problems. We are starting to comingle these
infrastructures. They want to work together.
Your company’s IT, which has always been something of a
‘walled city', now has this outer layer that can potentially
interact or engage with other players out in the open. How
will we handle that? Again, we have very good ideas and
techniques, but there are new languages and new
vocabularies that need to be created to enable us to work
together seamlessly.

where we are today.
So, where does this intelligence live? We are evolving into a
world of what I call “dynamic intelligence” which means both
devices and servers are intelligent, but they have different
responsibilities. Devices at the edge of the network need to be
intelligent enough to react, they have to sense changes in the
environment, the context, and then act. This is based on logic
or models derived from the core functionality of the device
and a longer-term analysis of how the functionality was
delivered or executed.
The job of a server is to collect this data from the edge
devices and continue to perform the ongoing analysis across
all the devices out there, to look for patterns or exceptions
and develop new, or better responses to input. Then over time
these algorithms are tweaked, updated logic is sent to the
edge, and the cycle continues. The overall solution continues
to get smarter.
You can do all of this on the server side. But then you have the
issues of connectivity and scalability. If connectivity is
interrupted, then the device is extremely limited, and maybe
even useless. As well, having more devices feeding in more
data only increases pressure on the network, the storage, and
on analytic components, which then start to become
individual choke points.
What we propose is more of a distributed computing and
processing model, where data is analysed, reduced, and
enhanced at every stage to transmit the best and most
relevant data possible. The device can make a few decisions
about what is going on, and it can pass data onto a gateway,
which can look at the inputs from multiple devices, and make
some decisions, and reduce the raw data and send on what’s
important.
Everybody wants more data, but everything has a limit. If we
all start passing on every single bit of data that we all are
collecting, everything just comes to its knees. We need to be
smart about how we handle this.
M2M Now: Thank you.

M2M Now: Are users best served by having more intelligent
devices in specific sectors like utilities, building automation
and healthcare? Or should IoT service providers build the
intelligence closer to the heart of the network?
DH: Users are best served by more intelligent devices. What I
mean by “intelligence” in devices is that there is a combination
of contextual data plus some processing logic.
You have some rules that this device is supposed to follow,
and additional information that provides some context. Now
you are a bit smarter because you can react to changing
scenarios and conditions. This is what we want from devices,
right? In a smart home scenario shouldn’t my house recognise
that I am leaving for work, and automatically lock the doors,
turn down the temperature, and turn off any lights?
We want devices to adapt to help us, because if they can
adapt and act more intelligently, then we spend more time
benefiting from them, rather than managing them, which is

embedded world Exhibition
& Conference 2014
Some of the most progressive companies in the industry aim to bring
the entire embedded ecosystem to life, through dedicated classes
and talks, at embedded world Exhibition & Conference 2014.

David Kleidermacher of Green Hills Software will
open the proceedings with a conference keynote
presentation entitled: ‘Securing the Internet of
Things’. This will set the tone for ensuing
discussions around embedding design and
security.
As networked devices gather momentum, they
will start forming the basis of cloud computing
and industry 4.0. However, this will result in a new
influx of vulnerable assets and even new
connectivity routes. Tackling this head on, for the
developer community, conference topics range
from software development (HLL- and modelbased) methods and tools, as well as their
efficient use across wired and wireless
connections.
Other discussions will address: security
fundamentals for embedded software, workshops
on cryptography and embedded security, design,
engineering and debugging methods, rounding

up with a panel discussion on multi-core
processors for embedded systems that will ask:
‘Are we ready?’

M2M focus
M2M-specific sessions will cover: ‘Secured
wireless M2M communication for medical
environments’, delivered by brightONE
Embedded Systems; ‘Applying Connectivity,
Manageability and Security to Critical
Infrastructure’, from Wind River; ‘M2M and
Embedded Processing – Advantages of Multicore & Asymmetric Processing’, by Freescale
Semiconductor; and, ‘How To Overcome
Integration Barriers’, delivered by Telit Wireless
Solutions. Also of interest, as industry chatter
grows surrounding ‘Low Power Technologies and
RF Paving the Way for the Growth of IoT
Applications,’ is the so-called session scheduled
from Silicon Labs.
The event should also provide inspiration for
future-orientated innovations. Special shows in
the M2M Area (Hall 4) will showcase the latest
products and applications from suppliers
including: Deutsche Telekom AG, m2m Germany
GmbH, m2mtec Germany GmbH & Co. KG,
Walter-M2M Klaus-Dieter Walter, and Atlantik
Elektronik GmbH.
Others, such as Lantronix, will be demonstrating
their wares and sharing views. At the end of 2013,
Lantronix, a global provider of smart networking
and communications for M2M applications,
▼

Encompassing maintenance, tracking, payments,
mobility, machinery and plant engineering, the
aim of embedded world Exhibition &
Conference 2014 is to help orient this
burgeoning market. For machine-to-machine
(M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT)
communications – right through from integration
to security – a mixture of learning, listening, and
networking will be available for those interested
in the development and application of
technologies for hardware, software, tools, and
services.

M2M Now

Nuremberg, Germany

launched the XPort® Pro Lx6 embedded device server. This is
an IPv6 offering from the company’s module family for wired
IoT deployments. The latest version is a powerful, embedded
ethernet networking engine that enables customers to deploy
advanced M2M applications in a thumb-sized package.
Also exhibiting will be u-blox, which serves markets including
fleet and asset management, marine navigation, consumer
electronics, as well as industrial M2M and security systems.
u-blox 7 is the company’s seventh generation satellite
positioning platform, supporting all global positioning
standards with extremely low power consumption, boasting
the fastest acquisition time on the market. The company also
supports satellite-based augmentation systems: WAAS,
EGNOS and MSAS.
Kontron, a global provider of embedded computing
technology, will be there too. The company recently
announced its ULP-COM-sAT30 product, which is a rugged
and scalable building block for industrial tablets and imagingcentric applications where power consumption must be
extremely low such as within the infotainment, digital signage,
security & surveillance, medical, and military markets.
Another exhibitor, Allis Communications Company
(ALLISCOM), designs, manufactures, and markets antenna
products to the GPS, GLONASS, WCDMA, and LTE sectors.
ALLISCOM will have a range of antennas on show to help with
communication and the monitoring of assets in different
environments. One of them is the M2M Wireless GatewayMG700, which is Linux-based and designed with WiFi, 3G,
Bluetooth, ZigBee, and GPS. This all-in-one wireless gateway
is easily configured for a variety of uses including telematics,
automotive, marine, smart grid metering, telemetry, home
automation, remote monitoring, medical, and defence
applications.
ALLISCOM has also developed a microprocessor-based
modem specifically for cost-effective 3G and 4G transmission
of data. Its M2M Wireless Modem-MM400 is light, compact
and easy to fit into any M2M wireless enclosure.

M2M Now

Java class
Reaching right inside embedded opportunities, Oracle’s
Terrence Barr, a senior technologist for mobile and embedded
technologies, will deliver a morning Java class, on Thursday
27 February, in which he will delve into ‘Desktop to Internet of
Things in 12 Seconds with Java ME Embedded’. Later the
same day, during the ‘Security & Cryptography III’ sessions,
delegates will also be privy to Barr’s experience and insight
with an address entitled: ‘Trust me, I’m an M2M Device’.
So, if you’re looking to advance your product or service to the
next level from a collective or analytical viewpoint, this event
could be your backstage pass to the industry. Around 900
exhibitors, over 22,000 visitors and almost 1,500 congress
participants and speakers came together for the embedded
world Exhibition & Conference 2013, affirming the organiser’s
claims that it is the largest international, and annual, event
addressing the whole value chain of embedded system
technology.
Professor Dr.-Ing. Matthias Sturm, HTWK Leipzig, chairman of
the embedded world conference committee, said: "The
development of the conferences is extraordinary. Here trends
are set and the way paved for future developments.
“The smartest minds on the embedded scene from all over the
world meet in Nürnberg. They exchange ideas at the highest
level and advance the sector with their ideas, developments
and innovative products. Safety, security and ultra-low power
were the key pioneering themes [in 2013] and were discussed
intensively in the halls and at the conferences."
Situated in the heart of Europe, in the Bavarian city of
Nürnberg, the event is easily accessible by car, rail and air. The
venue, the NürnbergMesse, Messezentrum, features two
restaurants, a bistro, VIP lounges and offices with daylight
everywhere including the show floor. High-speed WiFi is
available throughout the conference centre at a cost of €5 per
hour or €25 for the entire day. You can register in advance for
free entry at: www.embedded-world.de

63

OPINION
SPONSORED COLUMN

An evolution in store
for one-stop shops?
In my last column here in October 2013, I discussed how the
supermarket model – dubbed one of commerce’s greatest
“inventions”– bears so much significance for M2M as we witness the
rise of one-stop-shops in our space. Today, I want to explore what
comes next. Is there an evolution in store for one-stop shops?

The answer boils down again to the power of
convenience, and how much more convenient
you can make the experience for customers.
Once a shop supplies a comprehensive set of
ingredients necessary for complete solutions, in
the supermarket case, it has followed that
consumers start clamouring for groups of these
ingredients also being made available in solution
bundles such as ‘heat & eat’ food which is also
available on supermarket shelves. The availability
of semi-ready solution bundles is not
incompatible with the offer of ingredients. It is
not the case for supermarkets, and it is certainly
not the case for technology, particularly enabling
technologies such as M2M.
But the design of the solution-as-a-component
model bears scrutiny. This is an undertaking that

can make companies appear to compete with
some of the value-add from their own customers.
However, there are ribbons of value-add that are
natural for a one-stop shop to incorporate.
What the market has frequently witnessed is that,
solution providers are sometimes ‘forced’ into
delivering certain value-add, not because it is rich
for them but instead because there is a gap
without which the solution cannot happen.
With that said, it is clear that Telit’s ONE STOP.
ONE SHOP. will continue to expand, not only with
more ‘ingredients’ but also with semi-ready
solution bundles and platforms based on these
ingredients which can further accelerate the
exponential connection of devices to the Internet
of Things.

mHealth Summit showcased
new opportunities for M2M
The recent 2013 mHealth Summit held outside Washington, D.C. had an
impressive mix of attendees from across the mobile health ecosystem
and connected health value chain from more than 50 countries.
As Richard Scarfo reports, the conference offered insights into this
emerging marketplace – from mobile start-ups, business, telecom,
pharma and tech sectors, to those in non-profit, public sector,
non-government, and academia.

The author is
Richard Scarfo,
vice-president,
Events & director
of the mHealth
Summit at HIMSS

For more information about the 2013 mHealth Summit, go to www.mhealthsummit.org

As the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) trend
with internet connectivity is pervading all
healthcare delivery and electronics, the mHealth
Summit sessions covered key market drivers,
challenges, future roadmap, value chain analysis,
deployment case studies, as well as service and
product technologies, strategies and opportunities.
During the summit’s four days, we observed that
this Internet of Things pervasiveness is moving
beyond the core mHealth categories, and
extending to include personal health and
connected health. The summit offered a forum for
established and young companies to showcase
their innovations, as well as to pitch and meet
with potential investors and other dealmakers.
Other mHealth Summit programmes included the
role of mHealth in developed and less-developed
countries – as well as the multitude of opportunities
in the pharmaceutical industry ranging from
research and development (R&D) activities,
consumer education, post-market monitoring,
social media to patient compliance and retention.

Products launched
The flurry of new product announcements and
demonstrations in the HIMSS Media mHealth

Summit Exhibition Hall ranged from wearables,
services and products for preventive care and
personal care, fitness tracking and monitoring to
gaming for health. Showcased were products
that more effectively enable managing chronic
disease like diabetes, and those that address the
growing needs of ageing populations around the
globe, as well as developer platforms, personal
emergency response systems, and much more.
In the machine-to-machine communications
(M2M) space, the summit underscored the
centrality and opportunities in health and
wellness sensor monitoring, disease surveillance
and remote monitoring, diagnostic tools and
technical logistics, including interoperability
for better outcomes.
In the spotlight was the Vital Connect
HealthPatch MD biosensor, an integration of
Aventyn's Vitalbeat remote patient monitoring
and chronic disease management platform with
Vital Connect's Healthpatch MD wearable
biosensor technology. The wearable patch sensor,
worn on the chest, captures biometric
measurements and transmits that data back to
healthcare providers, allowing them to monitor
single-lead ECG, heart rate, heart rate variability,
respiratory rate, skin temperature, body posture,
steps and fall detection/severity.
▼

“Glimpse a world
where the IoT
and M2M …
increases
engagement
between
consumers,
patients,
providers, and
caretakers for
better health.”

M2M Now

With diabetes fast becoming one of America’s most prevalent
health issues, there was no shortage of devices and
programmes focused on managing this chronic condition.
One of the newer entrants into the market is Rimidi Diabetes,
an Atlanta-based start-up that made its debut at the summit.
The company, founded by Lucienne M. Ide, MD, a physician
with a PhD in pharmacology, and A. Michael Albisser, MD, one
of the inventors of the first artificial pancreas, is set to deploy
Diabetes+Me, a cloud-based platform that enables patients to
chart and manage their blood glucose levels with fitnessbased metrics and input from healthcare providers.

Managing treatment costs
As populations age at home or in other facilities, the Stanley
Healthcare Patient Safety Monitoring Solution provides a
solution for patient and staff safety and workflow monitoring
solutions. This mattress pad fitted with sensors is tied into a
remote monitoring platform that enables caregivers to
monitor a patient's movements in bed, their sleep patterns
and some vital signs. The pad, designed by Silicon Valleybased BAM Labs, fits underneath the mattress and sends
information wirelessly to a caregiver's PC or mobile device.
This particular solution, addresses such issues as pressure
ulcers, which develop when an immobile patient isn't moved
on a regular basis, and this occurs in 16.7% of patients in
skilled nursing facilities and can cost between US$7,000 and
$50,000 to treat, according to Catherine Thomas, senior
marketing manager, Stanley.
Mobile network operators also view mHealth as a lucrative
opportunity for the monetisation of their mobile connectivity
services. Given that most operators have established
themselves as reputable consumer brands, they are also
eyeing opportunities to offer services beyond simple
connectivity.
Many operators already offer branded or co-branded, end-toend mHealth solutions to their customer bases. AT&T
introduced EverThere, a mobile personal emergency response
system (mPERS) that automatically detects falls and connects
the wearer to a call centre for communication with emergency
response services. The solution is being marketed to both
enterprise customers – such as payers, healthcare providers,
home health agencies and skilled nursing facilities – as well as
to consumers.
The device was developed by Numera and is part of AT&T's
ForHealth unit, the company's mHealth-focused enterprise
launched in 2010.
Among the new apps introduced at the summit this year was
AppScript, a health app prescribing solution developed by
IMS Health. Stefan Linn, senior vice-president of strategy and
global pharma solutions, said AppScript wades into the "wild,
wild west" of healthcare-related apps and gives providers and
health plans a tool to determine which apps would be best for
their patients or members.
AppScript is a platform for providers and health plans. It
analyses more than 40,000 apps now on the market based on
attributes such as functionality, peer and patient reviews,
certifications and their potential to improve outcomes or
lower cost of care. Through AppScript, a doctor or health plan
can then prescribe an app, much like one would prescribe
medication.

M2M Now

"You find that there are many apps out there that really don't
do that much”, said Andrew Kress, senior vice-president of
IMS Health's Healthcare Value Solutions business. He said
AppScript is designed to "share information about what apps
work and what apps don't".

Infant mortality
Along with AppScript, IMS Health also unveiled AppNucleus,
an app development tool and hosting platform that enables
developers to accelerate product development by using plugand-play solutions along with IMS Health information and
analytics to achieve HIPAA and HITECH compliance.
Of particular relevance to the international market, Masimo
unveiled the iSpO2 Rx Pulse Oximeter with M-LNCS
connector. It is designed to help detect health conditions in
newborn children in low-resource settings, most particularly in
developing countries. The sensor provides data on oxygen
saturation, pulse rate and perfusion index and can be
accessed on the iPhone, iPad and iTouch, and soon on
Android devices.
The iSpO2 Rx is the latest effort in a collaboration with the
Newborn Foundation and marks the launch of the BORN
(Birth Oximetry Routine for Newborns) Project, a global
health initiative to cut down on the estimated 3.3 million
newborns who die each year in the first month of life. Pulse
oximetry screening has been used to help detect pneumonia,
early-onset sepsis, neonatal infection and pulmonary
hypertension, as well as congenital heart defects.
“This check of oxygen levels in newborns is among the most
effective health measures that can be deployed to reduce
newborn mortality,” said Annamarie Saarinen, co-founder and
chairman of the Newborn Foundation. “We just saw how
valuable this is, first hand, while in the Philippines during
Typhoon Haiyan.”
As healthcare providers seek to maximise their patient
outreach while minimising costs, many view mobile and
connected healthcare as the solution to improve healthcare
delivery and cost-efficiency. This year’s summit delivered
pragmatic solutions – and it also provided a glimpse into the
world where the Internet of Things and M2M connects and
increases engagement between consumers, patients,
providers, and caretakers for better health.
Stay tuned for the mHealth Summit in 2014, scheduled
for December 7-10 at the Gaylord National Harbor,
Washington, DC.

67

BACK PAGE

Survey reveals that three out of
four consumers want wearable
technology to improve lifestyles
Research from QlikTech, a provider of user-driven business
intelligence (BI), has shown that nearly three quarters (73%)
of consumers want to be able to analyse their spending
habits and health issues in order to lead a better life.
According to the research, these are the aspects of our lives
we want to track through wearable technology.
The ability to track sleep patterns, energy use and personal
fitness data were also considered important by the majority of
people surveyed, with nearly two thirds (62%) wanting more
information on their slumber, 61% wanting to know more
about the way they were consuming energy and 57% eager to
find out how many calories they had consumed/burnt off
during the day.
The research from QlikTech surveyed over 1,000 people
between the ages of 14 and 65+, looking at the ways
consumers want to be able to use wearable technology for
health, fitness, finances and personal activities. The survey,
which included consumers in Germany and France as well,
showed surprisingly similar results across Europe.

Wearable tech
was seen by
55% of those
surveyed as a
way to help
them change
their lives

When the research delved further into the reasons for why we
want to track these aspects of their lives, it found 59%
thought having quantifiable insights would motivate them to
improve their performance.
Breaking the research results down by gender, QlikTech found
that men were more likely than women to want to track sports
performance (46% to 39%) – especially among men aged 1624 (69%). Women, however, were more interested in learning
about their sleeping habits than men (64% compared to 60%).
“We’re quickly turning into a society where people want to be
able to analyse information about their own lives – not just
business data or information on their organisation,” comments
Sean Farrington, UK MD & RVP Northern Europe, QlikTech.

The leading global M2M managed services provider

It’s good to be well connected.
Your M2M solution is more than just data connectivity. We understand that.
So we not only built the world’s most advanced global M2M platform,
we also built our business upon the most important connections of all –
our relationships with our partners, carriers and customers.
That’s why Wyless is the trusted M2M partner of Fortune 500 companies
and startups alike. We’re the easiest company to work with. We listen to our
customers and take pride in every connection.
Wyless offers truly uncompromising M2M solutions, delivering worldwide
wireless connectivity via the most secure and resilient network infrastructure.
We provide unrivaled management tools and empower you with end-to-end
managed services, technical expertise and dedicated support.
So connect with the experts and together we’ll take your applications to the
next level. You have found your true M2M partner.
We can’t wait to discuss the possibilities.